


Welcome to Family

by literati42



Category: Batman (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Robin (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Navel-Gazing, tim has a lot of feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-12-11 08:24:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11710584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literati42/pseuds/literati42
Summary: Tim considers what family means to him





	Welcome to Family

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on tumblr as part of Batfam Week 2017

 

            “What do you have to lose?” Tim Drake looked up to see his Titan teammate looking into his eyes. Wonder Girl raised an eyebrow. It was a challenge. Tim possessed a fast-working mind, and it never raced more than in that moment.

            Growing up, Tim defined family by reality and fiction. He was the epitome of the latch-key-kid, letting himself in after school. He got to decide when he did homework, what he ate, what he watched, and when he went to sleep. It was not as good as it sounds. Tim remembered curling up in the big chair in front of his TV and watched the families portrayed there. Family in fiction was loud and loving, chaotic and kind. Tim would sometimes glance from the screen to one of the few family photos around the house. Reality was quiet, clinical. Reality was the bare minimum of interaction. Reality was loneliness. Back then he had nothing to lose.

            When Tim chased began his detective work, hunting the true identity of Batman to become his Robin—his salvation from the darkness—he did not fear the potential harm he was going into. He had nothing to lose, yet, but meeting Batman would change that.

            Now Tim defined family in moments. Family was Cass coming into his window. Tim knew her night of patrolling left her with nightmares that only family could dispel. She climbed onto his bed, hugged her knees and watched him typing on the computer. She knew he would be up. For a few hours sitting beside him eased her fears, and for a few hours, his sister beside him took the jagged edges of insomnia. One night, Tim shut the work just for a while and turned on a movie. They watched it together, side by side until morning light gave them back hope.

            Family was Stephanie somehow knowing he would be at his favorite dinner one night, sliding into the booth across from him without an invitation, and stealing fries off his plate. She never asked permission. Family meant knowing that she never had to ask. He would always want her there. She would always find him.

            Family meant Alfred having a spare key to his room in the mansion so that when Tim holed up, chasing leads or hacking CCTV cameras, Alfred could let himself in with a tray of coffee. It was Alfred buying a French press so he could make coffee strong enough to please the teen. It was in Alfred knowing which type of Oreo—double stuffed, obviously—served the biggest pick me up, and also insisting on a regular intake of vegetables. It was in the way Alfred would let his hand fall to Tim’s shoulder when he came in, just for a moment, grounding the kid back to the moment. Grounding him back to what it means to be family.

            Sometimes family included teaching Damian to play Mancala, and slowly watching his face turn redder as more and more of the little beads ended up on Tim’s side. Sometimes it meant shouting matches at 3 AM because that dissolve into illogical insults and groundless statements said with complete false authority. Sometimes it meant pushing each other hard in training just to see how close they could get to actual bleeding before Bruce would break it up. Sometimes, family meant all of those things and yet still knowing that at the end of the day, if a rogue has a knife to Tim’s throat, Damian would be the first one through the door with sword drawn.

            Sometimes Tim defined family as Dick, showing up when he least expected and hugging Tim even when the teen insisted he did not need or want hugs. It was Dick, realizing that Tim doth protest too much and that sometimes, touch was the only language that made him feel loved. It was Dick wanting to know every random detail about Tim’s day and listening, no matter what. It was Dick never letting “fine” be the final answer.

            Family meant to Tim those moments when a crack would form in the façade of Bruce Wayne or the strong posture of Batman, and Tim would see the man underneath. He would see the love there, tangled in trauma and a violent inability to communicate with people who were not current or former members of the Arkham Asylum population, but there anyway. It was the moments when Tim’s own insecurity would part, and he could admit that though he chose to become Robin, it was Bruce that chose to make him part of the family.

            More and more these days, family was beginning to mean finding ways to meet with Jason. It started as info exchanges that led to breakfast, but after a few such meetings, all pretense dropped. Now when Jason was in town after traveling the galaxy with the Outlaws, he would swing by if Tim was staying out of the mansion or schedule a meet up if Tim was at home. They would eat a meal together, and little by little Tim got to know the brother he never had a chance to grow up with. Jason was the brother that got him like his thoughts could only be conveyed in a language only they could speak. No matter what choices Jason made, Tim knew the familial bonds they built over every cup of coffee would stay strong.

            “Tim?” Wonder Girl’s voice called him back. What did he have to lose?

            What did he have to lose?

            A lot. These days, Tim realized, he had a lot to lose. He closed his eyes and remembered a young version of himself standing in the Batcave wearing the Robin yellow, red, and greens for the first time. He remembered Dick’s hand resting on his shoulder. “Welcome to the family.”

 

 

           

 


End file.
